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Adjacent to rapidly expanding communities, the 71,000-acre Agua Fria National Monument is approximately 40 miles north of central Phoenix. The monument encompasses two mesas and the canyon of the Agua Fria River. Elevations range from 2,150 feet above sea level along the Agua Fria Canyon to about 4,600 feet in the northern hills. This expansive mosaic of semi-desert area, cut by ribbons of valuable riparian forest, offers one of the most significant systems of prehistoric sites in the American Southwest. In addition to the rich record of human history, the monument contains outstanding biological resources. The monument contains one of the most significant systems of late prehistoric sites in the American Southwest. The monument also contains outstanding biological resources. The diversity of vegetative communities, pristine riparian habitat, topographical features, and relative availability of water provide habitat for a wide array of sensitive species and other wildlife. The area included in the monument is relatively isolated and rugged. Currently, the federal lands in the area are used primarily for scientific study, primitive recreation, and livestock grazing. In the last few decades, the area has received increased recognition as an outstanding archaeological resource. The majority of public land in the area was acquired around 1990 from the State of Arizona and in two private exchanges. The area contains most of a National Register of Historic Places District. Originally designated in 1975, the District was expanded in 1996 to encompass approximately 50,000 acres managed by the BLM and the Tonto National Forest. It is one of the largest prehistoric districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The area also contains all of the Perry Mesa Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), designated in 1987 to protect its cultural resource values. It also encompasses the Larry Canyon ACEC, which was designated in 1987 to protect a rare, pristine riparian deciduous forest within a desert ecosystem. The documentation supporting the nomination to the National Register and the ACEC designations identified many objects of scientific and historic interest within the monument area. Increased recreational use of the monument associated with the burgeoning human population and urban expansion of the Phoenix metropolitan area poses a threat to the archaeological and biological resources of the area. Illegal excavation, artifact collecting, and other activities have damaged archaeological sites, some significantly, and remain a continuing threat to their integrity. Despite damage to some sites, there is abundant scientific information to be gained from the monument. Protective measures will help preserve the remaining research potential of this archaeologically rich area. Land Area Reserved for the Objects to be Preserved(read more)The Antiquities Act authorizes the President, as part of a declaration of a national monument, to reserve land, "the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected." 16 U.S.C. § 431. The area reserved has been carefully delineated, based on a thorough review of available information, to meet the goals of effectively caring for and managing the objects in perpetuity. The area includes the archaeological, historic, and biological objects identified in the Proclamation. The area of the monument is based on the conservation needs of these objects, some of which are present throughout the entire monument area and others of which are scattered within it. Many objects also overlap. Much of the scientific value of the archaeological objects has been retained because they have remained relatively undisturbed and unchanged. Preservation of them requires, among other things, protection of land surrounding them in order to maintain the relatively remote conditions that have made their continued existence possible. Protection of land surrounding the archaeological objects is also important to preserve the relationships between objects. Current archaeological research suggests that the settlements throughout the monument interacted with one another for defense purposes. The area is intended to protect the totality of sites and agricultural systems in the area, allowing study of the interactions and relationships among these elements. Reservation of the aggregate area is necessary to protect the entire network of these sites. The same is true for biological objects such as vegetative communities and wildlife species that rely upon the larger ecosystem, including the vital Agua Fria riparian system. Even if it were possible to disaggregate the area, management of a patchwork of reserved lands would be impractical, as it would make it more difficult to care for the objects, reduce options for natural resource management and lead to inconsistent resource management standards for overlapping resources. Such a fragmentation of the monument would endanger many of the objects, undermine the purposes of the monument itself, and create substantial impediments to effective management of the monument. In short, reservation of a smaller area would undermine proper care and management of the monument. Management by the Bureau of Land Management(read more)The federal lands in the area described in the Proclamation are currently under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Department of the Interior. BLM manages the land pursuant to its basic organic authorities, the primary one being the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.). The Proclamation keeps the area under BLM management. This keeps the management of the federal land under the BLM's existing authorities, but subject to the overriding purpose of protecting the objects described in the Proclamation. The establishment of the monument thus constitutes an overlay on the management regime otherwise applicable to lands managed by the BLM; it limits the management discretion that the BLM would otherwise have, by mandating protection of the historic and scientific objects within the national monument. Impact of Monument Designation on Existing or Planned Activities in the Area(read more)Currently permitted livestock grazing (including water impoundments and similar range improvements), hunting, fishing, and similar activities: Grazing, hunting and other similar uses will generally not be affected except where (1) the BLM, through processes required by existing law, identifies places where such uses ought to be restricted or prohibited as necessary to protect the federal lands and resources, including the objects protected by the monument designation; or (2) where the BLM land manager finds a clear threat from such a use to the federal lands and resources including the objects protected by the monument designation and the circumstances call for swift protective action. Such uses will, of course, remain subject to applicable laws and regulations, and will therefore remain subject to regulation and limitation under such provisions for reasons other than establishment of the monument. Use of existing rights-of-way (such as those established under R.S. 2477 or Title V of FLPMA): The area covered by the Proclamation has very few roads; those that exist are primitive and tend to be rough and rutted much of the year. Use of existing rights-of-way will generally be subject to the same standards as described in the preceding paragraph. In some cases existing rights-of-way may include valid existing rights. The exercise of such rights may be regulated in order to protect the purposes of the monument, but any regulation must respect such rights. Visit the Arizona BLM website for more information. http://www.blm.gov/az/aguafria/pmesa.htm |
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